1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ovens for cooking foods, in particular commercial conveyor ovens typically employed in baking foods, such as pizzas and the like. It will, however, be apparent to those skilled in the art that such conveyor ovens are suitable for use in a variety of non-food related applications, and commercial conveyor ovens for non-food related applications are deemed to be within the scope of this invention.
2. Description of Related Art
Impingement ovens are primarily employed in fast food restaurants for rapid cooking of foods such as pizzas, pre-cooked meals, cookies and the like. Such ovens employ heated air streams which impinge directly upon the surface of the food being cooked. Such ovens typically employ an air handling system, which is responsible for the supply and distribution of heated air to the food and a heating chamber or space in which the food is actually cooked. The food is typically transported into and through the heating space by one or more conveyors. To provide for rapid heating, heated air streams are provided to the heating chamber in such a manner whereby the air streams impinge directly on both the top and bottom of the device carrying the food, typically by heated air plenums, disposed above and below the conveyor, having perforated heated air distribution plates through which the  heated air is directed onto the food surfaces. Conveyor/impingement ovens typical of the current state of the art are taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,812 to Wolfe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,248 to Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,934 B2 to Moshonas et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,364 B2 to Zapata et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,961 B1 to Hardenburger.
A major problem associated with conveyor ovens is the exchange of internal hot air with room air due to losses from the conveyor tunnel/heating space. A further problem is the low speed of baking certain foods due to low heat transfer. Yet a further problem is the limited kitchen space available in fast food restaurants for conveyor ovens capable of meeting the peak demands of their customers.